Re: “Maybe, what’s really CRUCIAL is that we stop polluting and reverse the trend in overpopulation?”

While I agree with you on both counts, I’m also resigned to the certainty that we’ll never be able to control ourselves to the extent that prudence would dictate.

A far more likely scenario is overpopulating the planet to the point of collapse. The pro-life people in the U.S. see population control as a threat to the raising of Christian armies. And many third world people see the thought coming out of the developed world to control population as nothing more than neo-colonialism.

I’ve been seeing this topic discussed on a number of different blogs and email streams. Jared Diamond’s books as well as Joseph Tainter’s “The Collapse of Complex Societies” [ http://tinyurl.com/a3qwyjo ] are being mentioned quite a bit.

We should look at the history of ice harvesting from lakes and ponds – this is the second winter in a row that we cannot even skate or fish on the ice on virtually *any* lake or pond – let alone harvest ice for use all through the next year. I’ve seen historical accounts that talk about being able to have *two* ice harvests on lakes in upstate New York.

We have building codes that include foundation footings to be at least 4 feet below the grade – this winter and last winter the ground didn’t even freeze deeper than about 2 inches. The ground only has stayed frozen for about 1 week, so we don’t need to worry about footings getting pushed up out of the ground.

“On the first of two inauguration specials examining the advocacy group “Common Good’s” proposals to end bureaucratic gridlock and get the United States moving forward, “Need to Know” anchor Jeff Greenfield explores why it now takes nearly four times as long to complete infrastructure projects in the United States than it did in the 1970s. By comparison, correspondent Rick Karr reports on how German political parties of every stripe are now backing a plan that is expected to nearly end that country’s use of fossil fuels by 2050.”

“The deep drought in the United States that has fueled wildfires, damaged crops, and caused near record-low water levels on the Mississippi River has lingered well into January. Though there has been some relief from a series of recent winter storms, a pair of satellites operated by NASA show that groundwater supplies continue to be unusually low in many parts of the country. ”